Winifred Rudge writes children’s books, she has also written a best seller the royalties of which supports her. Working on a new book, a change from her usual fare, she travels to London for ‘research’. She normally stays with her old friend and cousin (by marriage) John Comestor, but when she gets to his house, she finds he is gone and the house is apparently haunted. Winnie becomes obsessed with finding out what has happened to John and who or what is haunting the house.

Included in the story is Winnie’s new novel, or the notes for it. Rather confusing at first because the thoughts spring up in the middle of Winnie doing something. However once I realized what was going on, I was able to follow the two story lines rather easily.

The story of the Ghosts of Christmas (A Christmas Carol) is interwoven in this account along with other stories I am not familiar with. This is ghost story involving old ghosts known for a long time, but not known and also recently discovered. Its all explained in the book.

There are two main characters in this story, two people that have lost something, Winnie and the ghost. The ghost is centuries old and has been searching for a long time, Winnie’s lose is more recent. In summary there is more then one plot line in this narrative and at times it can get confusing, however in the end, all the stories come together and sort of make sense. ( )

This book was really … strange? There were a lot of intriguing parts, but none of them really fit together. Is it a ghost story? Is it the story of one woman's psychotic break? In the end, I'm not really sure, but neither do I care.

Sadly, I think Maguire and I just don't gel as author and reader--couldn't finish Wicked, just didn't get this one. He seems like someone who has such interesting ideas but something about his execution leaves me cold. ( )

I have no idea what is happening in this book. The questions at the back seem to hint that this is some sort of reimagining of A Christmas Carol, but I really have no clue it that's a correct assessment. Seriously, no idea what is going on here. It's like falling into the middle of a conversation between people you don't know about people you don't know. So confused. ( )

Well, I didn't really "read" this. I stopped about halfway through. Gregory Maguire, what happened? The idea of this book is great--but I just could not get into the story. I found it incoherent and boring. Also the main character, Winifred Rudge, is a total drag. So disappointed. I should have just re-read "Wicked." ( )

Wikipedia in English (1)

Winifred Rudge, a bemused writer struggling to get beyond the runaway success of her mass-market astrology book, travels to London to jump-start her new novel about a woman who is being haunted by the ghost of Jack the Ripper. Upon her arrival, she finds that her stepcousin and old friend John Comestor has disappeared, and a ghostly presence seems to have taken over his home. Is the spirit Winnie's great-great-grandfather, who, family legend claims, was Charles Dickens's childhood inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge? Could it be the ghostly remains of Jack the Ripper? Or a phantasm derived from a more arcane and insidious origin? Winnie begins to investigate and finds herself the unwilling audience for a drama of specters and shades—some from her family's peculiar history and some from her own unvanquished past.

In the spirit of A. S. Byatt's Possession, with dark echoing overtones of A Christmas Carol,Lost presents a rich fictional world that will enrapture its readers.

In this third novel by the acclaimed bestselling author of "Wicked" and "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister", famed children's book author Winifred Rudge travels to London to research a book about a woman who is being haunted by Jack the Ripper.